Prescott / Flagstaff

We live in the Phoenix area (Peoria) but have a business location in Flagstaff (and had a second home there, but not anymore). 

I make a trip up there at least a couple times a month to check in on our business. And my mom has lived in FLG for 25 years. 

Beautiful city, but has gotten VERY expensive. Home prices were already higher than the rest of AZ in general, but have doubled in the past 5 years. An average sized new home starts at nearly $1mil, older smaller homes are starting around $700k. One bedroom condo (basically an apartment) are $400k+.

Not just real estate, everything is more expensive. The city has a mandatory minimum wage of $18.35 and hour, even if you make tips it is still $18.35 hourly. So restaurant prices are higher ($20+ burgers) and many restaurants now add up to 10% additional "surcharge" for FMW (Flagstaff minimum wage). 

NAU and the hospital are the largest employers, Gore has several medical device facilities as well.

But if you can afford it, it is a great 4 season climate (rare in AZ), the historic downtown area(s) (north and south of the train tracks/route 66) have dozens of excellent restaurants/bars, etc.. 

They can make their own snow, so often skiing continues into May. Excellent mountain bike trails, hiking, fishing, hunting. No MX tracks close, but trail riding and the Cinders OHV are close. It is 7,000 ft elevation so takes some time to get used to outdoor activities. 

Prescott has grown at lot (the Tri-Cities around it), similar to Flagstaff but not quite as expensive. Has 4 seasons but milder winters (and warmer summers) than FLG. 

Never lived in either one, but spent a couple of days in Flagstaff moving my youngest daughter into her dorm at NAU.  I'm from Wenatchee and the elevation difference was not my friend when it came to lugging stuff up the hill and then 3 or 4 flights of stairs!  I know it's not the highest point in the world, but Wenatchee 650-700' of elevation to almost 7,000 and probably did more physical work than I had done in almost a year.  It was a pretty noticeable increase in effort!!  I did sleep pretty well the overnight I spent there, as it wore me completely out.  

I lived in Phoenix for two years and wished I had chosen Prescott instead. Nice location, cooler weather, better scenery. It gets cold there in the winter, but not like Flagstaff. There's Mountain biking all over near there... Prescott, Cottonwood, Sedona. 
Someday, my wife and I will probably retire somewhere near there. 

Only been to Flagstaff a couple times but I do know Prescott is awesome, but it's been invaded by californians years ago and the price of homes, i'm sure have skyrocketed.

It has a small time vibe and few people know that prescott once was the capital of arizona. 

Whiskey Row is infamous and on weekends has music and a lot going on.

New Mexico is  last mountain state whose prices  haven’t gone crazy. Just from what I see after spending time in all those states. Of course New Mexico is not the nicest but  Angel Fire resort is pretty radical. Big empty mountains around that area. 
 I  love northern Arizona, but it has gotten way too expensive

A word of advise from someone who also tried to find the ideal place to live...make sure the culture fits your lifestyle. I don't care if you are liberal or conservative, but it does matter when you settle down into your community and what you have to put up with on a day-to-day. If the town swings heavy to one side, you better be on that side or life will suck, no matter how perfect you think the area is.

I guess it mostly depends on why you're planning to relocate.  I own a vacation property about 15 miles southeast of Flagstaff in a community called Mormon Lake.  Funny thing, there's no Mormons and there's no lake.  The drive into Flagstaff is quick and scenic, which is nice because there's not a lot commercialism in the community.  A Lodge/Bar, general store, two pump gas island and a fire station.  Law enforcement is county Sherrif.    Typical small northern Az community, population goes from 50 to 5000 overnight on the summer weekends.  It's an off-road rider's paradise. You can ride for endless miles in the back country.  Also, one of the best hunting (5A) units in the state.  Boating and/or fishing 5 miles away.  Services are its only down fall.  Septic only, power and water reliable but can get spotty at times.  No refuge services.   

You might want to take a look at Camp Verde.  The last northern Az city that hasn't been besieged upon by out of staters.  

Good that you were able to get down here and do some scouting.  I've lived in Mesa and Flagstaff my whole life (60) and I still love it but it is getting hard to find a place in the state that isn't overran.

My nephew and his wife and kids lived in Minnesota for awhile and he loved the fishing, both from a boat and on the ice but his wife hated the cold weather. And apparently it is a thing to honk your horn all the time at minor things?

They moved to Phoenix about 10 years ago and love it there as he is a big golfer and i guess the courses are wonderful, But there is nowhere to fish and the heat is terrible at times. They plan on moving back to Spokane where he and his wife grew up at some point when their youngest is out of school. The motivation is to be closer to their aging parents to help them.

One thing I would have a tough time if i moved away from Washington is if there was a lack of mountains or hills. Living on the flat lands would throw me all off not having distinguishing peaks to orient myself on. 

Good luck Josh on your move.